Methods and compositions for detecting serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis capable of causing lymphogranuloma venereum

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are methods and compositions for conducting assays utilizing real-time polymerase chain reactions (“PCRs”) in detection of serotypes L I, L II, and L III, but not stereotype B, of  Chlamydia trachomatis , capable of causing lymphogranuloma venereum (“LGV”). These assays take advantage of a deletion occurring in the cytotoxin gene locus specific to the L I, L II, and L III serotypes. Each assay employs a first primer having a nucleotide sequence flanking one side of the deletion point and a second primer having a nucleotide sequence flanking the other side of the deletion point, wherein the first primer and the second primer are capable of hybridizing respectively to the plus strand and the minus strand of the genome of  Chlamydia trachomatis  during PCR. Synthesis during PCR of a sequence-specific amplicon containing this deletion point indicates that the sample contains nucleic acid specific to an LGV-causing serotype of  Chlamydia trachomatis.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 11/436,506, filed May 18, 2006, the entire contents of the above-referenced patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention broadly concerns methods for conducting PCR-based assays useful in the detection of LGV-causing serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis. More specifically, in this invention, an assay of a sample utilizes a first primer having a nucleotide sequence flanking one side of a deletion of the cytotoxin gene locus, and a second primer having a nucleotide sequence flanking the other side of this deletion, wherein synthesis of a sequence-specific amplicon containing the point of the deletion indicates that the sample contains nucleic acid specific to an LGV-causing serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis.

2. Description of the Related Art

Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular prokaryote. This organism includes the A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, G, K, L I, L II, and L III serotypes (Carlson et al., 2004, Polymorphisms in the Chlamydia trachomatis cytotoxin locus associated with ocular and genital isolates. Infection and Immunity 72:7063-7072). Serotypes of the L group of Chlamydia trachomatis (e.g., the L I, L II, and L III serotypes) are the causative agents of LGV. This disease, which is sexually transmitted, is characterized by three stages. In the primary stage, small, painless herpetiform genital ulcers are formed which are often not recognized and resolve spontaneously. The secondary stage presents itself as lymphadenopathy usually without any genital lesions. The tertiary stage, also known as the anorectal/elephantiasis stage, is typified by permanent disfigurement resulting from destroyed inguinal lymphoid tissue (Sturm et al., 2005, Molecular diagnosis of lymphogranuloma venereum in patients with genital ulcer disease. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 43:29732975). Thus, a need exists to quickly identify infection of a subject by a serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis belonging to the L group so that a medical practitioner can intervene and administer the appropriate treatment to prevent the onset of or ameliorate the destructive tertiary stage of LGV.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The Method of the Invention

An embodiment of the invention is directed to a method for determining whether a sample from a subject contains a serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis capable of causing LGV comprising (a) providing a vessel containing a composition, wherein the composition contains a first primer, a second primer, and a nucleic acid from the sample, wherein the composition is capable of amplifying, by a PCR, a segment of the nucleic acid to produce an amplicon, wherein production of the amplicon is primed by the first primer and the second primer, (b) incubating the vessel under conditions allowing production of the amplicon if the sample contains the serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis, and (c) determining that the sample contains the serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis if the amplicon is detected, or determining that the sample does not contain the serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis if the amplicon is not detected, wherein the amplicon comprises or consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 10 and the g residue at position 11), SEQ ID NO: 4 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 11 and the g residue at position 12), SEQ ID NO: 5 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 12 and the g residue at position 13), SEQ ID NO: 6 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 13 and the g residue at position 14), SEQ ID NO: 7 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 14 and the g residue at position 15), SEQ ID NO: 8 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 15 and the g residue at position 16), SEQ ID NO: 9 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 16 and the g residue at position 17), SEQ ID NO: 10 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 17 and the g residue at position 18), SEQ ID NO: 11 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 18 and the g residue at position 19), SEQ ID NO: 12 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 19 and the g residue at position 20), SEQ ID NO: 13 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 20 and the g residue at position 21), SEQ ID NO: 14 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 21 and the g residue at position 22), SEQ ID NO: 15 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 26 and the g residue at position 27), SEQ ID NO: 16 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 31 and the g residue at position 32), SEQ ID NO: 17 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 36 and the g residue at position 37), SEQ ID NO: 18 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 41 and the g residue at position 42), SEQ ID NO: 19 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 46 and the g residue at position 47), SEQ ID NO: 20 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 56 and the g residue at position 57), SEQ ID NO:21 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 307 and the g residue at position 308), or SEQ ID NO: 22 (wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between the a residue at position 307 and the g residue at position 308), and wherein, in SEQ ID NO:22, r is a in the L I and L III serotypes, and r is g in the L II serotype; y is c in the L II serotype, and y is t in the L I and L III serotypes; and n is g in the L I and L III serotypes, and n is nothing in the L II serotype. In another embodiment, the serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis is the L I, L II, or L III serotype. In another embodiment, the amplicon comprises less than 1500 base pairs, less than 1400 base pairs, less than 1300 base pairs, less than 1200 base pairs, less than 1100 base pairs, less than 1000 base pairs, or less than 500 base pairs. In another embodiment, the amplicon consists of 426 base pairs. The genome of each of the L I, L II, and L III serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis contains the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 (which is comprised by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23) and the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 (which is comprised by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 24), wherein the nucleotide at the 3′ end of SEQ ID NO:1 and the nucleotide at the 5′ end of SEQ ID NO: 2 are contiguous, and wherein the deletion point of the cytotoxin gene locus is located between these two nucleotides.

In another embodiment of the invention, the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23 comprises the nucleotide sequence of the first primer. In another embodiment, the reverse complement of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 24 comprises the nucleotide sequence of the second primer, wherein, in SEQ ID NO:24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing. In another embodiment, the first primer comprises or consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 25. In another embodiment, the second primer comprises or consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26. In another embodiment, the first primer is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long. In another embodiment, the second primer is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long.

In another embodiment of the invention, in (b), the first primer is capable of hybridizing to at least a portion of the reverse complement of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:23, and in (b), the second primer is capable of hybridizing to at least a portion of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:24, wherein, in SEQ ID NO:24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing. In another embodiment, the first primer is at least 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% to; or is 100% identical to a segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:23 based on the Clustal V or W alignment method using the default parameters, and the second primer is at least 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 80%, 79%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 96%, 94%, 95%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identical to, or is 100% identical to the reverse segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:24 based on the Clustal V or W alignment method using the default parameters, wherein, in SEQ ID NO:24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing. Pairwise nucleotide sequence alignments and determination of percent identities are performed using the default parameters of the Clustal V algorithm or the Clustal W algorithm, wherein both algorithms are incorporated into the Power Macintosh MegAlign 6.1 program (DNASTAR, Madison, Wis.). The default parameters for pairwise alignments using the Clustal V algorithm are as follows: Ktuple=1, gap penalty=3, window=5, and diagonals=5. The default parameters for pairwise alignments using the Clustal W algorithm are as follows: gap penalty=10.00 and gap length=0.10. The Clustal V algorithm is described in Higgins et al., 1989, Fast and sensitive multiple sequence alignments on a microcomputer. Computer Applications in the Biosciences 5:151-153. The Clustal W algorithm is described in Thompson et al., 1994, CLUSTAL W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Research 22:4673-80.

In another embodiment, the segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23 is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long. In another embodiment, the reverse complement of the segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 24 is from 8 to 5 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long, wherein, in SEQ ID NO: 24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing.

In another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises detecting the amplicon using an oligonucleotide probe. In another embodiment, the oligonucleotide probe comprises or consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 27. In another embodiment, a 6-carboxy-fluorescein moiety is attached to the 5′ end of the oligonucleotide probe, a Black Hole Quencher 1 moiety is attached to the 3′ end of the oligonucleotide probe, and the amplicon is detected by the oligonucleotide probe during real-time PCR. In another embodiment, the amplicon is detected by gel electrophoresis after the PCR is completed.

The First Composition of the Invention

An embodiment of the invention is directed to an isolated polynucleotide (e.g., the above-described amplicon) comprising or consisting of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ 1D NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:21, or SEQ ID NO:22, wherein, in SEQ ID NO:22, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing. In another embodiment, the polynucleotide comprises less than 1500 base pairs, less than 1400 base pairs, less than 1300 base pairs, less than 1200 base pairs, less than 1100 base pairs, less than 1000 base pairs, or less than 500 base pairs. In another embodiment, the polynucleotide consists of 426 base pairs.

The Second Composition of the Invention

An embodiment of the invention is directed to an isolated composition comprising a first oligonucleotide (e.g., the above-described first primer) and a second oligonucleotide (e.g., the above-described second primer), wherein the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:23 comprises the nucleotide sequence of the first oligonucleotide, wherein the reverse complement of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:24 comprises the nucleotide sequence of the second oligonucleotide, and wherein, in SEQ ID NO:24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing. In another embodiment, the first oligonucleotide is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long. In another embodiment, the second oligonucleotide is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long. In another embodiment, the first oligonucleotide comprises or consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: and the second oligonucleotide comprises or consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26.

The Third Composition of the Invention

An embodiment of the invention is directed to an isolated composition comprising a first oligonucleotide (e.g., the above-described first primer) and a second oligonucleotide (e.g., the above-described second primer), wherein the first oligonucleotide is capable of hybridizing, under highly stringent hybridization conditions, to at least a portion of the reverse complement of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:23, wherein the second oligonucleotide is capable of hybridizing, under highly stringent hybridization conditions, to at least a portion of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:24, and wherein, in SEQ ID NO:24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing. In another embodiment, the first oligonucleotide is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 1.2 to 24 nucleotides long. In another embodiment, the second oligonucleotide is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long.

Highly stringent hybridization conditions include the following conditions: 6×SSC and 65° C.; hybridization conditions described in Ausubel et al., 2002, Short Protocols in Molecular Biology, 5^(th) edition, Volumes 1 and 2, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, N.J., the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference; and hybridization conditions described in Ausubel et al., 1997, Short Protocols in Molecular Biology, 3^(rd) edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y., the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The Fourth Composition of the Invention

An embodiment of the invention is directed to an isolated composition comprising a first oligonucleotide (e.g., the above-described first primer) and a second oligonucleotide (e.g., the above-described second primer), wherein the first oligonucleotide is at least 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identical to, or is 100% identical to a segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ NO:23 based on the Clustal V or W alignment method using the default parameters, wherein the second oligonucleotide is at least 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identical to, or is 100% identical to the reverse complement of a segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:24 based on the Clustal V or W alignment method using the default parameters, and wherein, in SEQ ID NO: 24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing. In another embodiment, the first oligonucleotide and the second oligonucleotide are each from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or are each from 12 to 24 nucleotides long. In another embodiment, the segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 23 is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long. In another embodiment, the reverse complement of the segment of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 24 is from 8 to 50 nucleotides long or is from 12 to 24 nucleotides long, wherein, in SEQ ID NO: 24, r is a or g, y is c or t, and n is g or nothing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following example illustrates the use of the methods and compositions of the invention to identify LGV-causing serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis. This example is set forth by way of illustration only, and nothing therein shall be taken as a limitation upon the overall scope of the invention.

Example

Unless indicated otherwise, each PCR was performed in a volume of 25 ul containing extracted DNA (preferably 200 ng), 600 nM of a first primer consisting of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:25 (“primer LGV F”), 600 nM of a second primer consisting of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:26 (“primer LGV R”), 200 nM of an oligonucleotide probe consisting of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 27 (“probe LGV Pr”), and 1×iTaq custom supermix (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Hercules, Calif.), wherein the 2× stock solution of the iTaq custom supermix contained 120 U/ml of iTaq DNA polymerase, 80 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.4), 200 mM KCI, 6 mM MgCl2, 400 mM dATP, 400 mM dCTP, 400 mM dGTP, 800 mM dUTP, 80 U/ml of UNG, and proprietary Bio-Rad Laboratories stabilizers. Probe LGV Pr was present in the reaction mixture to monitor real-time synthesis of the amplicon resulting from each successful PCR. The primer LGV F and the primer LGV R, and the probe LGV Pr were obtained from Integrated DNA Technologies (Stokie, Ill.).

Nucleotide sequences of additional oligonucleotides potentially useful as first and second primers, and as oligonucleotide probes are determined using computer programs such as Assay Design Software 1.0.6 (Biotage, Uppsala, Sweden) and Beacon Designer 4.02 (Build 402003) (PREMIER Biosoft International, Palo Alto, Calif.).

PCRs were conducted using the Rotor-Gene 3000 platform (Corbett Research, Sydney, Australia). Parameters for each PCR were as follows: an initial incubation at 50° C. for 2 minutes to activate UNG, followed by incubation at 94° C. for 3 minutes to initially denature the DNA, inactivate the UNG, and activate the iTaq DNA polymerase. Next, 35 cycles of denaturation (94° C. for 20 seconds) and annealing and extension (60° C. for 60 seconds) were performed with fluorescence acquisition (excitation at 470 nM and emission at 510 nM) immediately following each annealing-extension step. Fluorescence curves were analyzed with dynamic-tube normalization, slope correction, and automatic threshold determination by a best-fit line of at least three standards using Rotor-Gene version 5.0 software (Corbett Research, Sydney, Australia).

The specificity of the real-time PCR was assessed by attempting to carry out the reaction with DNA extracted from each of the serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis shown in Table 1 below. In these assays, each reaction mixture contained 200 ng of genomic DNA. Additionally, the specificity of the real-time PCR was assessed by attempting to conduct the reaction in cocktail format, wherein each reaction mixture contained DNA extracted from four or five types of pathogen as shown in Table 2 below. Cultures of organisms listed in Tables 1 and 2 were purchased from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC®, Manassas, Va.). Only DNA from each of the L I, L II, and L III serotypes of Chlamydia trachomatis was amplified.

To determine the nucleotide sequence of each of the L I, L II, and L III-specific amplicons, each of these three amplicons was cloned into the pCle2.1-TOPO® vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) to create pLGVI, pLGVII, and pLGVIII, respectively. For these plasmid constructions, each PCR contained 200 ng of template DNA, 600 nM of primer LGV F, 600 nM of primer LGV R, and 1×iTaq custom supermix. Parameters for each of these PCRs were as follows: incubation at 94° C. for 60 seconds, followed by 35 cycles of incubation at 94° C. for 60 seconds and 60° C. for 60 seconds, followed by a final incubation at 72° C. for 60 seconds. Sequencing of the insert of each of these three plasmids revealed that the L I-, L II-, and L III-specific amplicons were each 426 nucleotides long, and had identical nucleotide sequences, i.e., the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:21.

TABLE 1 Serotype of Chlamydia trachomatis ATCC ® Number A VR-571B B VR-573 Ba VR-347 C VR-1477 D VR-885 E VR-348B F VR-346 G VR-878 H VR-879 I VR-880 J VR-886 K VR-887 L I VR-901 L II VR-577 L III VR-903

TABLE 2 ATCC ® Number Cocktail 1 Gardnerella vaginalis 14018 Neisseria gonorrhoeae 27628 Trichomonas vaginalis 30246 Ureaplasma urealyticum 27618 Cocktail 2 Bacteroides fragilis 23745 Mobiluncus curtisii 35241 Mobiluncus mulieris 35243 HTLV-1 CRL-8294 Human herpesvirus (HHV-6) VR-1467 Cocktail 3 Herpes simplex virus (HSV) Type 1 VR-734 HSV-2 VR-734 Human Papillomavirus (HPV) CRL-1550 Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) CCL-86 Cytomegalovirus (CMV) VR-807 Cocktail 4 Candida albicans 11651 Candida glabrata 2001 Candida parapsilosis 22019 Candida tropicalis 13803 Aspergillus fumigatus 14110 Cocktail 5 Mycoplasma fermentans 15474 Mycoplasma pneumoniae 15377 Mycoplasma genitalium 33530 Mycoplasma salivarium 14277 Mycoplasma hominis 14027 Cocktail 6 Human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) CRL-2230 Adenovirus VR-1 Coxsackie Virus VR-184 Crytococcus neoformans 2344 Babesia microti 30222 Cocktail 7 Chlamydia pneumoniae VR-1356 Helicobacter pylori 43579 Brucella abortis 25840 Borrelia burgdorferi 35210 Cocktail 8 Bartonella henselae 49882 Bartonella bacilliformis 35656 Bartonella quintana 51694 Anaplasma phagocytophila VR-367 Trichosporan 4151 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for detecting lymphogranuloma venereum-causing serotypes LI, LII, LIII, but not serotype B of Chlamydia trachomatis in a sample from a subject suspected of Chlamydia trachomatis infection, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a sample from a subject suspected of Chlamydia trachomatis infection; (b) isolating nucleic acid from said sample; (c) mixing said isolated nucleic acid with a first primer and a second primer to form a mixture, said first primer consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 25 and said second primer consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 26; (d) performing a PCR on said isolated nucleic acid mixture in step (c) under conditions that allow production of an amplicon; and (e) detecting the presence of said amplicon, wherein said presence of said amplicon is indicative of the presence of lymphogranuloma venereum-causing serotypes LI, LII, LIII, but not serotype B of Chlamydia trachomatis in said subject.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said PCR in step (d) is a real-time PCR.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step (d) further comprises the step of using an oligonucleotide probe to detect said amplicon.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said oligonucleotide probe consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 27. 5. The method of claim 3, wherein said oligonucleotide probe comprises a fluorescent moiety.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein said fluorescent moiety is a 6-carboxy-fluorescein moiety.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said nucleic acid is DNA. 